Author: Nibletz Staff

From the get-go, businesses are encouraged to set goals. The reason for this is because by setting goals, you have something to aim for, something to work towards. A big part of long-term goal setting is using smaller targets over time to ensure that you and your team are slowly but surely working towards achieving the larger goals. The issue is that often these long-term goals can get lost as time goes by, with your team failing to meet enough of their short-term targets to make your long-term goals a success.

To give you the very best advice about ensuring that your goals are met, below are the strategies that many of the most successful entrepreneurs swear by for smashing their targets and achieving their long-term goals.

Monitor projects

If you want to understand how your team works then monitor them. Utilize software that allows you to map your team’s projects and keep track of their progress. By monitoring your team’s progress, you can not only ensure that targets are being met, but also that each team member is working as productively as possible. Plus, another benefit of using this type of software is that it will allow you to find out the types of targets that are achievable for your team, which is vital in the long-term.

Hire an organizational leadership specialist

An organizational specialist can make achieving your goals easier, as they are trained to create and develop targets that will help to make achieving your long-term goals more likely. Ideally, you want to select a specialist with a PhD in organizational leadership, who has all the skills, knowledge, and experience to help your business to smash those target and achieve your long-term goals. Don’t fancy hiring anyone? Perhaps you could ask one of your current team members to undergo organizational leadership training instead? How organizational leadership specialists work is through effective communication and problem solving, looking at anything that stands in the way of targets being met, and showing you how to prevent these kinds of issues from occurring again.

Encourage your team to set their own goals

To encourage your team to work harder and be more productive so that your long-term goals are more likely to be met, encourage them to set their own goals. Organize an exercise where your team creates their own long-term goals to work towards. When they realize that working to meet your goals will allow them to meet their goals, your team will be more likely to work harder to ensure that short-term targets are met, so that long-term goals can be achieved more easily.

Reward hard work

There’s nothing like an incentive to encourage your employees to push themselves a little harder to work more productively. To encourage your team to work harder, offer them incentives. This could simply be sending them an email expressing your gratitude for their hard work on a project, or it could be giving them half a day extra vacation time. By offering your team members incentives and rewarding them for their hard work, you will encourage them to put more effort into meeting targets.

Smashing short-term targets and achieving long-term goals in business isn’t always easy, but it is doable, it’s just a case of understanding how to ensure that your team are working as productively as possible.

Running a small business means that you probably have a list of worries as long as your arm. And while these vary from sector to sector and business to business, there are a few that are common to all of them. These are the ones that we will be taking a closer look at in this article. As well as highlighting what they are in the first place, we will also look at the ways that you can address them so they are not keeping you up at night – at least not for so long!

Cash Flow Problems

Your business wouldn’t be able to keep functioning without money continually streaming in, so that is what we will focus on to begin with. Unexpected outgoings and mounting bills are two of the biggest issues, but clients stalling payments is another one which you may need to look at the right kind of lawyer you need for debt collection. Money management tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated online, so take a look at these first. And you should also have a spare cash reserve so you can deal with the costs that life throws at you.

Fatigue

There is no doubt that running a business is hard work, but if you find yourself becoming too run down and fatigued, you will never be able to run your business at its highest level. For highly motivated people, delegation can be a difficult thing to do, but it is absolutely essential that you concentrate your energy on the parts of business that you are best at. You could even outsource some processes to different companies. Try to get into a habit of dividing up each day and don’t forget to make time for your personal life!

Having Too Many Overheads

Going back to finances again, another common concern is that your costs are spiraling out of control which is certainly something that you want to avoid. You should make a habit of assessing each area of your business closely and working out ways that you can streamline them. It may be that you find a new program that helps to make a certain process easier or you may find that you can get a particular service cheaper from another provider. Always analyse investments that you make so you are sure that you are doing the right thing.

Losing Customers

Many business owners are too focused on always getting new customers through the door and don’t pay enough attention to keeping the customers they have already. So, always make sure that you take the time to show your current clients that they are valued. This may be through offering them exclusive discounts or access to a loyalty scheme. And remember that your customer service is absolutely everything, especially in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

These are just a few of the biggest concerns for small business owners as well as a few ways in which they can be addressed.   

Managing a small business can be a lot like being a teacher. You’re there an hour before your employees turn up and you know you’ll be sticking around long after they’re gone. You try to be friendly and approachable, you want them to know that you have their best interests at heart… And most of the time it’s great.

But there’s a niggling doubt at the back of your mind. An itch you can’t scratch. A sense that, despite your best efforts, you’re losing them.

Maybe you find that you’re having to spend more and more time checking up to make sure they’re on task. Maybe you have to break up one-too-many long conversations at the water cooler. Maybe you’ve asked them once too often not to have their phones out while they’re working.

Smaller enterprises tend to have a much more friendly and intimate relationship with their employees and under these circumstances, you could be forgiven for sparing the rod. You don’t want to risk damaging your relationship with them, but things don’t look good if you can’t get them back on task soon.

If you’re noticing a spike in off task behavior, employees taking longer than expected to carry out tasks or a little too much muttering among the ranks then many leaders will question their efficacy. That’s not a bad thing (it’s what makes you a good leader), but it’s important that you don’t beat yourself up about it. Rather, you should take the bull by the horns and confront the matter of employee engagement head-on before it has a detrimental affect on your business.

It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility

You shouldn’t take off-task behavior personally but you do need to take steps to measure, address and restore employee engagement so that you can be assured of peak productivity continue to steer the ship in the right direction. It can, however, be difficult to find the right approach.

Here are some tools to assist you in restoring high levels of engagement amongst your employees.

Quantify their engagement

There are many ways in which you can quantify your employees’ engagement and involve them in the process so that is seen as a developmental tool and not just a perceived means of you checking up on them. There is recommended employee engagement software that will allow you to do this. This is usually done by collecting survey responses from your employees. Unlike employee satisfaction surveys, these use the MAGIC model of employee engagement. They quantify:

• Meaning
• Autonomy
• Growth
• Impact
• Connection

By measuring these factors which drive meaningful engagement, you will be able to quantify just how engaged your employees are, ascertain how well founded your concerns are and act accordingly.

You can use your employees’ feedback to draft strategies and action plans for individuals and the workforce as a whole and while their responses should be confidential, the data should still be used as a tool to hold them to account.

Provide opportunities for development

It’s hard to remain engaged when you’re not motivated and a great way to ensure employee motivation is a clear and accessible career path with regular opportunities for development and constant coaching. Not only will this give your employees something to aspire to and a reason for them to bring their A game every day, it will also show that you value them and are prepared to invest your time, resources and capital in helping them further their career.

By offering provision for all members of staff to develop and grow under your wing you will help to improve engagement and solidify your working relationship with them.

Create the right environment

Having quantified employee engagement, you now need to create an environment that is conducive to improving it. You’re already on the right track by using the employee data to formulate a strategic narrative that the whole workforce has a hand in. Now you need to ensure that you are constantly driving engagement through environmental and cultural factors.

• Give them a voice- Ensure that they have meaningful input in strategic or operational decisions in the business. This will ensure that they feel they have a personal stake in the enterprise.
• Offer support and coaching- Opportunities for development are very important but even more so is constant support. Employees need to feel they can come to you if they are struggling to overcome a task or rise to the next challenge in their development.
• Create a team dynamic- This will create cohesion amongst the workforce and dispel any sense of “them vs. you”. Regular meetings, roundtables, circular emails and teambuilding exercises are tremendously helpful for this.

If you’re a budding entrepreneur, you’ll learn that first impressions count for everything very quickly. Sadly, in the competitive, harsh world of business, it’s rare to get second chances. If you’ve developed a product or you’re in the process of building your brand, it’s essential to work on getting that first introduction, pitch or meeting just right. Here are some tips you may find useful to ensure you make the best impression in business.

Selling yourself

If you’re the main spokesperson for your brand, you are potentially the most valuable and influential marketing tool, so it’s really important that you come across well. Remember that you are representing your brand at all times. This means that the eyes of investors, colleagues and clients will be on you from the moment you first meet. Creating positive impressions isn’t just about arriving on time, greeting people with a smile and looking the part. You also need to know your stuff. Branding is all about giving people information about your business and showcasing its personality and unique selling proposition. Make sure you can embody what the brand is all about, and you show off your passion for your business. If you’re pitching, prepare thoroughly. If you’re disorganized, you lose your thread over and over again, or you’re muddled when it comes to the numbers, this will put buyers and investors off.

Creating the right environment

Whether you run a shop, an SEO agency or a sales firm, it’s important to ensure that you create the right working environment. If you’ve got clients coming to your office or buyers coming to have a look around your stockroom or the shop floor, you want to impress them from the moment they pull up outside. If you’re on the lookout for new premises for your business, bear the impact of aesthetics in mind. Look for rental commercial office space that reflects your business, and gives off the vibe you want to create. Make sure the space is light and clean, and search for something that fits in with the way you work. If you’re hosting meetings, you don’t want to be huddled around a small desk with a captive audience within earshot. Look for offices that give you the flexibility to work collectively and host private engagements.

Promoting your brand

When you’ve worked hard on a brand name, logos, and straplines, you want to promote and protect your brand. Anything and everything that carries that logo or brand name should fit in with the message you’re trying to get across. If you’ve got a great logo, for example, the last thing you want is it to be adorning a dirty van that has seen better days. Every employee and every piece of equipment or item of merchandise should look the part.

In business, first impressions often count for everything, so it’s essential to ensure those first meetings and appointments go to plan. Start with your role in the marketing strategy, and focus on ensuring that you sell your business in the best possible light at every opportunity.

Any new business owner will recognize the struggle of making a name for themselves and their brand. At the end of the day, you can have brilliant products, perfect service, and innovative ideas. Your prices can be cheaper than any competitor and you could deliver products faster and more effectively than anyone else. But if nobody knows you exist, you aren’t going to make any profit! So how do you make your business shine in its field? How do you draw customers’ attention and bring them to your store first? How do you make potential buyers opt for you over a competitor or switch their loyalties to your brand? Here’s a quick guide to get you started and the profits rolling in.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

You’ve probably seen the term SEO flung around. But do you really understand what it means? SEO stands for “search engine optimization”. It is the name given to any form of activity that improves your site’s ranking in search engine results. When people are looking for a product, they are most likely to use a search engine such as Google, Bing or Quora to find what they need. Most people will click the top link in the list presented to them and the majority will not search further than the second or third page before purchasing a product. So you want your products and site to come up tops! It’s relatively easy to get yourself to the top of the list if you bring in a little help from companies like Orlando SEO Services. These services help you to maximize your profits and incoming revenue by strategically optimizing your site to give search engines what they are looking for. The process is simple, relatively cheap and extremely effective in grabbing buyers’ attention.

Targeted Web Design

It’s easy for anyone to create a beautiful and neat looking website. But the thing you need to focus on is making it appropriate for your target audience. You need to make sure that your page is apt and attractive for the people you are hoping to sell to. So do your research! If you happen to be selling stairlifts or dentures, your targeted buyer is probably someone of older age who may not be so tech savvy. You should make sure that your website is minimal, neat and easy to operate. This will prove much more functional than a modern, complex design which could leave your customers confused and more likely to head to the high street for face to face advice from your brick and mortar competitors. If you are selling merchandise to youth with a distinct aesthetic, make sure that your site reflects this. It will draw them in if they feel that they identify with it. Stores such as Hot Topic or Blue Banana have excelled in this field, creating sites which adhere to the aesthetic of the rock-loving youth they cater to through dark color schemes and font which resembles those used by hardcore bands. Cater to your audience!

Offer Multiple Payment Methods

The more payment methods you accept, the more likely you are to make sales. Someone may have a full basket and be disappointed to find that you don’t take their preferred payment method. This is a huge reason behind abandoned baskets and incomplete sales. So try to cater to everyone. Accept all major credit cards and have options such as Paypal available. Paypal is great, as it stores an individual’s’ card details, meaning that they can still make purchases even if they don’t have their bank details or card details to hand. It is also a secure payment method, which makes customers feel more confident in the act of buying from you.

Offer Multiple Delivery Methods

With the ease of access that E-commerce offers, people have started buying things more last minute than ever before. So you need to have effective delivery options ready. First class or next day services will draw in buyers who have forgotten a birthday, or left purchases for special occasions, holidays and vacations until the last minute. You should also have economy services available for individuals who are looking to waste as little money as possible and international services for those who are interested in your goods but live further afield. You never know where your ideal market may be and overseas sales can proliferate, resulting in increased income from your store.

Online Advertising

Help consumers discover your goods by making the most of any online advertising. Set up social media feeds for your business, allowing people to recommend you to others or subscribe to information regarding sales, new products, and special events. Make your presence known!

Sorry but it is true: your company may be vulnerable. No one likes to admit it, but it is the first step on the road to acceptance. Once you get over the initial shock, it’s time to move onto the next phase, which is optimizing the office. Although the firm may not appear to be a prime target, it is at the top of every thief’s list. Why? It’s because you don’t take your physical or cyber security seriously. With that in mind, here is a handful of high-tech items that will assume responsibility so that you don’t have to worry.

Biometric Door Locks

In this case, the title is a fancy way of saying an eye scanner. Okay, so eye scanners are little bit James Bond, but that was a long time ago. Nowadays, they are the norm, and suppliers distribute them at a fraction of the cost. They are by no means cheap, but they are affordable. Plus, they are as close to foolproof as possible. Without the right clearance, which links to your biometrics, there is no way through the door. This stops people in their tracks and prevents opportunist burglars looking for an easy ride.

Remote Video

Remote video monitoring and a CCTV security system do have a crossover. But, in general, a remote video operation is the newer and more advanced version of CCTV. The reason for this is the range of in-play features. A closed circuit television system mainly watches and records footage in a certain area. Remote video, however, allows the user to stop footage in real time, as well as access snapshots and video clips. All in all, there is far more control and access. Both are useful, but RVM goes the extra mile which gives it the edge in the security stakes.

Cloud Control

Businesses are increasingly using the cloud to store data, and it is easy to see why. The problem with the cloud, however, is a lack of security mixed with the fact that it is a sharing platform. When put together, these two factors are potentially fatal. So, it makes sense to take precautions, the main one being data encryption. It is possible to prevent hacking in the first place, but hackers are good and can get through most defenses. What they struggle to unlock is a high-level encryption. With this tool at your disposal, the cloud is a useful tool and not a potential security flaw.

Exterior Lighting

This may appear low-tech, but it isn’t a low-grade security measure whatsoever. In fact, it is pretty high grade if you invest in the right lighting. For one thing, the brightness shouldn’t be taken for granted because there is a science for mixing light fixtures and powerful bulbs. Secondly, the most effective ones run on a timer, so there is no need to man them 24/7. Finally, they randomize the pattern, so it is nearly impossible for thieves to guess when to make a move.

Exterior lighting isn’t looking low-tech now, is it?

Now, this isn’t to scare you off the idea – but small businesses are nothing if they aren’t under threat. Small businesses aren’t like big businesses; they can’t fold a wing in and cut costs to survive. Small businesses face collapse constantly, and it’s hard work to keep them afloat. A small business might find that cutting some costs to make ends meet is the exact decision that sees it close down. It truly can be a lose-lose situation.

Nobody said that running a business was ever going to be easy though. It’s hard work, and the fact that the chances of failure are so high shouldn’t put anyone off of starting a business. There’s success to be made – certainly for anyone who can pay attention to detail and dot the i’s while crossing the t’s. A business will see collapse if it’s unable to pay attention to the smaller details, that might represent the nuts and bolts holding the business together.

A business needs to protect its interests to survive – that doesn’t just mean patenting and locking down ideas, but protecting its brand and its employees. If it’s a smaller business, though – you’ll need to lock down what is said and done when the business is represented publicly. A small business cannot afford to say silly, slanderous things in public nor should it pursue courses of action that can be considered libelous in nature. There are a lot of ethical considerations to be considered when a small business reaches out to the public, but above all, it should have some self-control, reign it in and ensure it doesn’t say or do anything that could be taken the wrong way at all. We need to watch out for any potential conflicts of interest as well. A business can get into legal trouble pretty quickly through its actions, but it can also cripple its integrity. Both are to be avoided.

Any business that brings something new to the table – be it a technique, a design or a product needs to ensure that the idea is protected. This is done through a process known as a patent, and if you are unsure about this course of action, you need to seek advice from agencies such as NK Patent Law to ensure your ideas are protected. If patents are breached by yourself, you can land in some very hot water indeed. What’s more, your business stands to lose if someone uses your idea without attribution or payment – patenting can protect you from that reality. Patents are enforced on simple ideas years and years in advance, even if the technology isn’t ever realized – just so a business or individual can protect their ideas and their interests. It’s also true that businesses and organizations patent items just to trip up others, so be careful and always seek advice about this area of intellectual property that can represent a legal minefield.

If a business doesn’t protect its interests, it might find it suffers a blow to its reputation, and it’s coffers. Ideally, a business should stay out of court. It can only do that if it protects its interests in the first place.

If you’ve just finished producing your brand new products, you will most likely want to throw a launch party – here’s what you should know.

Get a team together

If you know that you will need some helping hands, other than yourself, assign one person the job of managing all the details. That will take a lot of the pressure off yourself, and you will be able to focus on more areas regarding speaking to your guests and networking. Just make sure that everyone knows exactly what they’re doing throughout the day.

Plan it out well

Have a sit down with all the people that will be helping you on the big day, not only your employees but the catering staff too (if you have any.) Walk through every step of the day from start to finish. Think about all the little things like where and how the chairs will be placed, to what guests will see when they enter the room, and even how the napkins will be folded. It’s a good idea to think about hiring security too, as you never know how people may end up behaving.

Create a budget

Once you start seeing how you want the event to look and feel, write everything down, with what they are going to cost beside it, then add it all up and see if this is realistic or if you need to scale back a little. If you do need more money, other than taking out a loan, see if you can find a sponsor for the event, or even sell tickets well in advance.

The right insurance

Now that you’re starting to make a name for yourself, it’s even more important to get the right insurance for your business. You want something that can cover you in all possible situations, and throwing a product launch party is one of them. Speak with a few different companies and ask them for a contractor insurance quote if you haven’t already thought to do so. You want to cover yourself for any theft or damage to your goods, as well as if someone gets injured at an event of yours.

Have a goal in mind

What is your purpose for launching this party? Did you want to gain more exposure, create awareness to something you consider important or sell some products in bulk? Once you have an idea of why you’re doing all this, you can make sure your needs are met, and how you can achieve that.

Figure out the scope of the event

If this is your first time throwing an event, you don’t want to go too overboard and risk it looking disorganized or unprepared – you don’t ever want people to think that of you, so only bite off what you can chew. When you have figured it out, you can start thinking about whether you want food and refreshments, public speakers, entertainment, and so on.

Get the date right

Before you go choosing dates, it would be wise to speak with other businesses and even look online for any other upcoming events within your industry, as well as any holidays. You don’t want your date to clash with anything important otherwise no one will come.

Alert the media

Having the local media attend your event is a necessary way to build awareness about your party within the community. So get some reporters and bloggers a front row seat and invite them to cover your event. The publicity will be a great tool for giving your day even more exposure.

Create a marketing plan

And when you have one, make sure you have enough time to get the word out. There are many ways you can get in touch with people whether that be through direct email, the radio, online and more.

Using social media is a great way to connect with your target audience and let them know about your event. It’s all about building the buzz, so don’t put all your cards on the table too soon. Tease the event in advance with little pictures and posts about your preparations – then start inviting customers to the event. Think about giving the option of a VIP entry ticket too, as well as the standard ones. It makes everything sound a lot fancier, and will intrigue your consumers.

Make sure you get some of your team to take lots of photos and videos throughout the night – they could even go live on social media to keep people tuned in.

One of the most frustrating things you’ll see in business is when someone purposely tries to mimic your business. It could be a suspiciously similar logo, it might be someone using a similar company name to you, or they could just straight up be copying your product and selling it as their own. What’s even more infuriating is when they’re subtle about their marketing and they actually try to flog their product off as yours. This can be an incredibly stressful time, and it’s enough to make you tear your hair out.

However, don’t go bald yet! There are plenty of ways to deal with copycats, and they don’t all involve hiring a lawyer (although that’s a very good method of dealing with it!). In some cases, you just need to show how silly those companies are for even trying to copy your product, and that alone will be enough to not only give them a terrible reputation but save your business in the meantime. So without further ado, here are a couple of ways to protect your business from fraudsters.

Trademarking and copyrighting

Protecting your business is important— we all know that, but are you going through the right steps to actually protect it? If you’re going to create a new product, use a special name you thought so much about or even start a new brand, you have to copyright it. This gives you the legal power to protect yourself from copycats and you can go ahead and send as many cease and desist letters as you want, assuming they’ve done something worth taking to court over.

Stop people infringing on your intellectual property

Speaking of being taken to court, it’s a good idea to become friends with a DMCA takedown service. The better your relationship, the faster they can take action. Taking down copycats that do everything from mimicking your product to using a similar name as fast as possible is very important. Don’t neglect the importance of making the first move and dealing a finishing blow to these pop-up fraudster businesses.

Staying ahead of the competition

Another way to prevent copycats from ever messing with your business is to stay ahead of the competition. Always offer something new both in terms of technology and customer support. This way, you’ll always be a step ahead of them and they won’t have any means of catching up to you. However, this doesn’t mean you should let them roam free and do what they like. If anything, you should be pressing the advantage you have and shutting them down while you’re ahead instead of giving them time to catch up to you.

Offer something better than the copycats

And lastly, don’t forget to offer something better. If the copycats have caught up to you with product mimicking, then don’t forget you can offer something better by having better customer service, longer warranties or even insurance on your services and items. As long as you’re giving your customers a better deal, they will always stick with you.

The world is becoming more environmentally conscious, and the business world has latched onto this knowing that having a green motif will be good for profits as well as the earth. This is certainly true in the construction industry where going green from the ground up is becoming an industry-wide motto.

Whatever your big selling point used to be, whether it be meeting deadlines or coming in under budget, the big selling point of 2017 is being more sustainable. As such, we have come up with a list of ways in which your construction business can become that much more eco-friendly.

1. Materials

A huge chunk of energy consumption happens in the earliest stages of all, the manufacturing of materials. That is why it is so important that you make a conscious effort to use low-impact building materials, including recycled and repurposed materials. Insulation made from blown-paper, hempcrete to make exterior walls, these are all becoming common within sustainable construction.

2. Equipment

Using more energy efficient equipment is a great way to reduce your on-site carbon footprint, and the manufacturing side of the industry is making huge strides on this front. This isn’t all you should consider, however, because using equipment such as the jaw crusher from Weir Minerals will allow you to recycle old concrete better, much improving your onsite recycling abilities. These are the sorts of approaches you should consider. Ones that address every aspect and make your process more eco-friendly.

3. Local

This is going to become a huge trend across a lot of industries, especially construction because locality is becoming a big thing. Using locally sourced timber, local employees, local bricks and visiting local quarries are all going to reduce your transportation and fuel costs, both of which have a huge impact on your environmental footprint.

4. Modular

In terms of industry trends, modular homes and prefabricated buildings are all the trend and this is partly because it allows the construction industry to be much greener. The reason being you can streamline almost every aspect of your business operations, from design time to waste, transport costs to manufacturing equipment. The world is going on-demand, and the chance to have a home made to specification in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the carbon output is a big hit.

5. Waste

We touched on it above, but it deserves to be delved into much deeper because for every square foot of house there are five pounds of waste. Drywall, roofing, bricks, sand, insulation, glass; all of these add up to create a horrendous amount of waste that is not only bad for the environment but awful for profit margins too. To counter this, a lot of building companies are looking at ways to better store their materials, while others are even going as far as finding ways to reuse old materials. On the manufacturing and production side, a lot of companies are trying to pull their weight too by limiting the amount of packaging that is used, which is something that you should take into consideration, and even ask your suppliers about.

Maybe you believe that you already have a wildly successful ecommerce store. However, there are usually ways you can improve, even if you don’t seem them yet. Aiming to improve consistently is always one of the most important things about being an entrepreneur! Let’s take a look at how you could perhaps make your ecommerce store even more successful:

Take A Long, Hard Look At Your Content

The content on your ecommerce store is going to make a massive difference as to whether you’re making big sales or not. If you’re using titles and/or descriptions lifted from the manufacturer, this isn’t going to do you any favors! You need original content. You need content that will make others feel compelled to buy from you. You need to go into detail, be helpful, and even add a bit of personality in there! You can’t be too thin on your content, but don’t be tempted to stuff keywords in either. Make sure you’re valuable.

Optimize More For Mobile

If you haven’t already, optimizing for mobile is a must. Mobile browsing and shopping is quickly taking over desktop browsing and shopping, so make sure your site is responsive and optimized.

Make The Checkout Process Super Simple
You have to make the checkout process really simple if you want more success. The second somebody hits a bump in the buying process, they could decide to leave and buy elsewhere. It’s just that easy for people to change their minds! You can learn more about how mobile browsing and shopping is affecting ecommerce in the infographic below.

Credit to Digital Agency

Did you know that more and more people over 60 are setting up their own business these days? There is one main reason for this. Lots of people who worked hard throughout their careers can often find it hard to adjust to retired life, and they need something to occupy them. This, along with the fact that the Internet now makes it easy for anyone to set up a company these days, is why entrepreneurship is now a popular pastime with the older generations. In fact, there are so many retired entrepreneurs now that there is even a nickname for them: silver entrepreneurs!

However, all is not simple for this elderly age group. Most business is carried out online nowadays, and as many retirees aren’t too hot with computers and tech, there are lots of online benefits they are missing. It also means they are failing to do some very basic online tips and tricks that will really help their new companies take off.

To help all you silver entrepreneurs out there, here’s a quick rundown of some of the things that many people neglect or forget about their online business. Make sure you don’t do the same!

Forgetting About Social Media

The majority of people have social media accounts, whether they are on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. And you need to get your new company out there on social media too so that you can attract all the social media users to your brand. In fact, setting up social media profiles for your company should be one of the first things you do for your business. Don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between a tweet and a gif, you can always hire a social media manager to look after these accounts for you!

Ignoring SEO Best Practices

There are so many silver entrepreneurs who get confused about Internet search engines and SEO, that they just choose to ignore all the best practices. But that’s a terrible idea, especially when you could outsource all this work to a company who offers SEO services and content marketing management. But, simply put, good SEO can help your company website rise through Google’s rankings and get to the top spot. That means, lots of web users will quickly find you. However, bad SEO will leave your company trailing behind on the tenth page of results…

Not Getting Mobile Ready

As well as everyone being on social media, you will also find that most people are always on their smartphones these days. In fact, smartphones have recently overtaken laptops as the device that most people use to view the web. So, it is crucial that your website and company blog are mobile ready. Otherwise, they just won’t look good on a small phone screen. Most website hosting sites now come with templates that can help you design a slick mobile-responsive site. If you’re having trouble, though, you can always hire a designer to help you out.

There’s no reason for your company to fail if you’re a silver entrepreneur! Just follow these tips!

Your brand is what makes up the identity of your company. This identity, or personality, is essential to ensuring that you stand out in the world of business. Developing your brand requires quite a lot of work and involves many different pursuits. From commercials to the way you conduct yourself online, there are a lot of different aspects that will affect how effective your branding is.

Developing your brand is one thing, but making sure it actually remains in the public eye, as well as ensuring it’s legally protected, is something else. We’re going to take a quick look at the considerations you have to make if you really want to make an impact with your brand.

Your name

A lot of budding entrepreneurs actually get lost in brand development before they’ve even decided on a name! They love to design logos and slogans, but may have nothing more than a vague idea about what their company is going to do. Businesses with trendy names are going to have an easier time with brand development; it will also be easier to design the visual elements such as your logo. Make sure you have a strong business name – then ensure that you can get a website domain titled appropriately. Without a domain name that matches your business name, you’ll have a harder time in brand development.

The visuals

The power of a good logo should never be underestimated. A lot of people make the mistake of assuming that any old thing will do; that what makes the logo truly memorable is what your company actually achieves. This can be a useful mindset up to a point – after all, a great logo won’t make up for bad business practices. But a memorable logo is essential for powerful branding. Don’t assume that your logo has to be elaborate or painfully simple (although the latter tends to be preferable!). Get some design tips from the expert before you start sketching your ideas.

Trademarking

If you don’t have legal protection for the elements of your brand, then it’s pretty much open season on those assets. Even if your name and logo are ridiculously unique, that still doesn’t mean there’s no chance that some other company or individual will use those assets to their advantage. Never assume that you don’t need to trademark these assets. Applying for a trademark, or working directly with a trademark attorney, is an essential part of protecting the brand that you’re developing.

Being proactive

You need to be proactive when it comes to furthering the reach of your brand and ensuring that it isn’t being misused by others. You also need to ensure that your reputation – a big but invisible part of your branding – is managed and protected. This may mean occasionally Googling your own business name to ensure that your reputation isn’t being sullied in some news article or unfair review! As for being proactive in the further reach of your brand, social media is where it’s at. This isn’t just where you go to help your content go viral; it’s where you develop the personality that the public sees.